Thomas Nelson Large Print KJV Journal the Word Bible Review

One of the most common complaints I’ve heard about journal Bibles is the small print. Most seem to be around 7-7.5 point, which can be difficult for middle-aged eyes like mine. Thankfully, Thomas Nelsonhas answered this problem with the Large Print KJV Journal the Word Bible. As its name implies, this is a large print journal edition that many will find more comfortable to read and use.

Thomas Nelson provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review – only an honest review. My opinions are my own.

COVER & BINDING

The cover on this edition is dark brown bonded leather with a paste-down paper liner. It has tan perimeter stitching. It has an elegant grain and a designed border is stamped into the front and back. The spine shows KJV, Journal the Word, Bible, and the Thomas Nelson logo in gold. It’s sewn and has no issues lying open in Genesis.

For those who want the details – This is Cromwell Bonded Leather. Cromwell is my favorite bonded leather. It’s called Eurobond Bonded Leather and is made in their factory in Valencia, Spain. The color is called “Timber” and the grain is called “Basque”.

The overall size is 6.25 high x 6.75 wide x 2″ thick. These dimensions do make it feel chunky. I would have preferred it slightly taller and not as thick. It weighs 3.01 pounds. It includes one brown ribbon.

Also available in a black hardcover, a green floral or blue floral cloth over board cover, and a brown genuine leather edition.

PAPER

The paper is the same deep cream upper 30’s-gsm that’s found in most journal Bibles. It’s highly opaque. I used a mechanical pencil for notes and it worked great. I had to erase some sloppy writing and it erased easily with no smears or problems. The pages are thick enough to turn easily. The dark cream doesn’t create an overly high contrast. I find this helps readability for long periods of time, but I prefer to read it in good lighting. Fortunately it has no glare under direct light.

TYPOGRAPHY

The text is presented in verse-by-verse single-column format. The outer margin is 2 inches and includes ruled lines for notes or artwork. The text contains lots of section headings in bold. The outer corner of the header shows the page number and just inside the margin is the book name, chapter, and verse numbers.

The font is 9-point with a generous leading and is highly readable. It’s a medium darkness or darker and is consistent throughout. The red letter is also dark and readable. The text never seemed crowded. It has around 64 characters across with around 12 words per line. It doesn’t use line-matching but there are a lot of lines that do match. Those pages look the best but I find all of it readable. It does not include pronunciation marks but it does have italics for supplied words.

Using It

As you can see, rather than drawing or jotting down my thoughts, I’ve used it for taking notes on the text. These are bullet points that I used to preach on Acts. If I can keep going it will have notes like this throughout the whole Bible (that’s the plan anyway).

I preached from it several times and every time it performed perfectly. I had no issues loosing my place but I did sometimes use my finger to keep my eye on the right line. The text never bent into the gutter and the pages were always easy to turn.

It was nice to read from but I typically gravitate toward thinner Bibles for reading and carry. I had no issues reading from it at home or preaching from it, but I don’t think I want to carry it around due to how thick and heavy it is.

CONCLUSION

Journal Bibles are a great alternative to wide margin editions because they’re usually single column with wide margins in the outer margin. The Large Print KJV Journal the Word Bible is no exception. It’s a great choice for making notes. It’s a little bulky, but it’s a great alternative to a more expensive wide margin edition and is especially a good choice for anyone looking for large print.